2012 Fall Film Guide

Labor Day has passed, and now it’s time to consider this year’s crop of what will inevitably be considered some of Oscar’s biggest fodder. It’s no surprise that when it comes to the Academy Awards, the movies that are most likely to be honored with a nomination are those that are released towards the end of the year. Some of this year’s frontrunners appear to be Argo, Django Unchained, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Hyde Park on Hudson, Life of Pi, Lincoln, The Master, Les Misérables, Silver Linings Playbook, Wreck-It Ralph, and Zero Dark Thirty. Of course, there’s plenty of other flicks to look forward to, spanning all genres and audience interests.

Logline: Set in a dystopian future where corporate brands have created a disillusioned population, one man’s effort to unlock the truth behind the conspiracy will lead to an epic battle with hidden forces that control the world.

THE COLD LIGHT OF DAY

Logline: After his family is kidnapped during their sailing trip inSpain, a young Wall Street trader is confronted by the people responsible: intelligence agents looking to recover a mysterious briefcase.

THE DETAILS

Logline: When a family of raccoons discovers worms living underneath the sod in Jeff’s and Nealy’s backyard, this pest problem begins a darkly comic and wild chain reaction of domestic tension, infidelity, and murder.

LIBERAL ARTS

Logline: When 30-something Jesse returns to his alma mater for a professor’s retirement party, he falls for Zibby, a college student, and is faced with a powerful attraction that springs up between them.

THE MASTER

Not since There Will be Blood in 2009 has Academy Award-nominated director Paul Thomas Anderson had a film in theaters. This month, however, Anderson’s work will once again grace the screen, and critics anticipate his newest project, The Master, will make up for the wait. The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, a frequent Anderson collaborator, as the intellectual and religious leader Lancaster Dodd. Central to the story is the relationship between Dodd and an unhinged, traumatized World War II veteran, played by Joaquin Phoenix, whom Dodd takes under his wing. Due to its subject matter and the uncanny resemblance of Hoffman to another, more infamous religious leader, many have assumed Anderson’s film to be based on a history of Scientology—assumptions which Anderson and the cast refute. In interviews, Anderson has sought to diminish the connections between The Master and Scientology. While admitting there are certain similarities, he encourages viewers to look beyond the obvious. Considering Anderson’s body of work, it seems likely that The Master will offer enough nuance and complexity to leave audiences pondering its themes long after they’ve left the theater.

DREDD 3D

Logline: In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury, and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug SLO-MO.

END OF WATCH

Director: David Ayer

Cast: America Ferrera, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick, Michael Peña

Genres: Crima, Drama, Mystery

Release Date: September 21

Logline: Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

HOUSE AT THE END

OF THE STREET

Director: Mark Tonderai

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Shue, Max Thieriot

Genres: Horror, Thriller

Release Date: September 21

Logline: A mother and daughter move to a new town and find themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. When the daughter befriends the surviving son, she learns the story is far from over.

LOOPER

Logline: In 2072, when the mob wants to get rid of someone the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun awaits. One day, Joe learns the mob wants to “close the loop” by transporting back Joe’s future self.

WON’T BACK DOWN

Logline: Two determined mothers­—one a teacher—look to transform their children’s failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.

PITCH PERFECT

Logline: Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school’s all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.

Based on the 2007 Wired article “How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran,” written by Joshua Bearman, Argo tells the story of how the governments of Canada and the United States teamed up to rescue six US diplomats from Tehran, Iran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The premise is one of those fantastical scenarios that you wouldn’t believe was true unless somebody said otherwise. The Canadian and American governments convinced Iran that the six hostages were part of a film crew who were scouting locations for a non-existent movie called Argo. The fake film even featured real designs from renown comic book illustrator Jack “The King” Kirby, as well as a screenplay from Barry Ira Geller for an adaptation of Lord of Light. Amazingly, the con worked, and the hostages were able to escape under the guise of their fake identities.

The project was initiated the same year the article was released, under producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov. Ben Affleck’s involvement came in February 2011. Production photography began in Los Angeleson September 2011, with later filming in Istanbul and finally wrapping in Washington, on location at the CIA headquarters and State Department in November 2011. After Gone Baby Gone (2007) and The Town (2010), Affleck has recently proven himself a very skillful director, molded as a Sidney Lumet dramatist with the verve of a Michael Mann stylist. This political thriller looks to play to his strengths as a filmmaker. The trailer makes this film seem promising, an entertaining look at a very turbulent time of global affairs set during recent history.

HERE COMES THE BOOM

Director: Frank Coraci

Cast: Salma Hayek, Kevin James, Henry Winkler

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: October 12

Logline: A high school biology teacher looks to become a successful mixed martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to prevent extracurricular activities from being axed at his cash-strapped school.

Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7th and releasing in the US this October, Seven Psycopaths reunites McDonagh with actor Colin Farrell, who he directed in the irreverent Oscar-nominated crime comedy In Bruges (2008). In an interview on IrishAmerica.com, McDonagh states how much he enjoys making a movie in Hollywood—the arts-heavy Silverlake region of Los Angeles, to be specific—withPsychopaths being his first United States production. He said, “I like having towns as characters in a film. In Bruges was obviously that, but I wanted LA to have the same quality that Bruges did … and hopefully that’s there.”

In the same article, Farrell agrees and extends his confidence in McDonagh. Farrell said, “I love his work and his sensibility … Martin’s writing is always so unique, I just fell in love with him as a writer and then as a man.”

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4

CHASING MAVERICKS

Directors: Michael Apted, Curtis Hanson

Cast: Gerard Butler, Elizabeth Shue, Jonny Weston

Genres: Drama, Sport

Release Date: October 26

Logline: When young Jay Moriarty discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, exists just miles from his Santa Cruz home, he enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson to train him to survive it.

Logline: An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present, and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

When the animated film Wreck-It Ralph was presented to audiences in San Diego’s Comic-Con in July, it was the one Disney film that hardly anyone felt excited about, considering its low-key actors and a little-known director. But that all changed after the film’s trailer was screened, as Wreck-It Ralph became the Disney film that got everyone buzzing. The original story is about an 8-bit video game’s villain making the giant leap to the lighter side.

The titular character, Ralph (voiced by Reilly), has gotten bored and tired of being the agent of destruction in the arcade game Fix-It Felix, Jr., a loathed task of his for the last 30 years. Ralph discovers other video game villains who feel the same way he does (like actual characters, Zangief in Street Fighter and Bowser from Super Mario), but he is the only one audacious enough to finally abandon his world in Fix-It Felix, Jr. He embarks on a super, high-powered adventure, teleporting from one video game to another in the arcade dimension to discover his full potential, and for once look forward to him actually saving the day.

A towering epic covering one of the great American leaders is coming to multiplexes this fall. The fact that a biopic on Abraham Lincoln, inarguably one of the preeminent presidents in American history, is being filmed by Steven Spielberg, inarguably one of the preeminent directors in American filmmaking, is incredibly appropriate. Rather than focusing on Lincoln’s early life or whole tenure as president, the film covers the final months of Lincoln’s life. This involves the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (abolishing slavery forever), the Reconstruction of the South, and Lincoln’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre.

This project has long been gestating for Steven Spielberg. One of the reasons for the delays was because the studio, Paramount Pictures, felt that the film would be too similar to Amistad (1997), which was unsuccessful at the box office. During that time, the script had been through various writers before Spielberg brought in the brilliant playwright Tony Kushner, whom he previously worked with on the masterful film Munich (2005). Liam Neeson was attached to play the titular role in the beginning stages, but had dropped out in July 2010, saying to GMTV that he was “too old to play the former commander-in-chief.” However, in November 2010, Daniel Day-Lewis had stepped in Neeson’s place and took over the role. Considering Day-Lewis’s Buddhist-like devotion to method acting, where he completely immerses himself into the role, anticipation for this film has massively increased. Reviewing his legendary work in other rich historical pictures like The Last of the Mohicans (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), The Crucible (1996), Gangs of New York (2002), and There Will Be Blood (2007), it’s not hard to see why.

Ian Fleming’s beloved British spy James Bond is back in his 23rd outing on the big screen. Unlike previous entries in the series, Skyfall doesn’t follow the narrative thread established from the prior Bond movie, Quantum of Solace (2008). According to producer Barbara Broccoli, the series “will go on to other different stories from now on.” In this chapter, Bond’s allegiance to M is put to the test as mysterious figures from her past come back and threaten her. Bond must put an end to this threat, by any means necessary.

Skyfall marks Daniel Craig’s third time playing the debonair 007 spy. His interpretation of the iconic character goes in a different and much darker direction than previous actors who have handled the iconic character. Craig brings a hardened intensity to the role, eschewing a no-nonsense approach to the proceedings. This allows for a more violent character, where Bond erupts in certain fits of animalistic savagery at points. Craig’s Bond is the only Bond to exude any real sense of menace. When this is matched with the formidable talents of filmmaker Sam Mendes (whose own oeuvre includes such morally questionable characters featured inAmerican Beauty, Road to Perdition, and Jarhead), Skyfall is sure to be a remarkable entry in the legendary film series.

ANNA KARENINA

Logline: Set in late 19th-centuryRussia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky.

RUST & BONE

Director: Jacques Audiard

Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure

Genres: Drama, Mystery

Release Date: November 16

Logline: Put in charge of his young son, Ali leaves Belgium for Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Ali’s bond with Stephanie, a killer whale trainer, grows deeper after Stephanie suffers a horrible accident.

In the epic conclusion of the much beloved series, Bella has a blissful start to her new life as a vampire and mother to the half-human/half-vampire child Renesmee. However, when rumors spread that the child is a vampire who was bitten—not born—both the Quileute wolf pack and the vampire ruling family, the Vultori, threaten to destroy the child. Edward, Bella, and the Cullens must again face their two most feared enemies. This time they are fully aided by Jacob, who “imprinted” on Renesmee, forming a life-long bond, and will stop at nothing to protect her.

The final chapter of the Twilight Saga expands into the world beyond Forks, presenting vampire covens and nomad vampires from around the world. The half-breed child is also an addition to the Twilight mythology. She grows at a rapid pace, and three actresses were used to portray the child throughout the film. Melissa Rosenberg wrote all of the screenplay adaptations for the series, though each film has had a different director up until Breaking Dawn, which was split into two films and shot simultaneously.

LIFE OF PI

Adapted from the 2001 best-selling novel of the same name by Yann Martel, Life of Pi tells the story of a 16-year-old boy named Pi who is the lone survivor of a sinking freighter. He finds himself adrift at sea on a lifeboat with an orangutan, a hyena, a wounded zebra, and a hungry Bengal tiger.

Acclaimed filmmakers like M. Night Shyamalan, Alfonso Cuarón, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet each tried and failed to adapt the novel for the big screen. When 20th Century Fox approached director Ang Lee to take on the project he immediately thought it was unmakeable. “All we have is difficulty: water, kids, animals, and 3D. Everything you should avoid in this business, it’s all put together.” Ultimately, Lee’s attraction to the book’s exploration of faith swayed him into taking on the project. “It’s a story about God, not necessarily about religion. Pi goes through a test, and without faith there’s no way to make it through a journey.”

Lee had to rely on a lot of faith dealing with the aforementioned obstacles, as well as filming in 3D for the first time. Taking his high-tech cameras in the churning water tanks of a Taiwan sound stage used to simulate the open sea was a big risk, but it seems like the risk may have paid off. Fox screened 10 minutes of footage from the film during this past July’s Comic-Con to overwhelming positive responses from theater owners. The film is now generating awards buzz, not just in major categories, which Lee is used to, but in the visual effects category, as well. Life of Pi is set to open the New York Film Festival on September 28th.

SIILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Former teacher Pat Solitano lost everything—his house, his job, and his wife. Now, after a stint in a mental institution, he finds himself living back with his parents. Determined to rebuild his life, remain positive, and reunite with his wife despite the challenging circumstances of their separation, things change course sharply when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious and mentally unstable young woman still dealing with severe depression after her husband’s death. Tiffany offers to help Pat reconnect with his wife, but only if he’ll do something very important for her. As their deal plays out, an unexpected bond begins to form between them, and silver linings appear in both of their lives.

Based on the book by Matthew Quick, Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, both of whom have starred in two of the highest-grossing movies in recent times and are currently huge box office draws. Silver Linings also marks a comeback for actor/comedian Chris Tucker, who has been on a self-imposed hiatus since his hit Rush Hour movies. All that combined with David O. Russell’s (The Fighter, 2010) direction make Silver Linings a highly anticipated holiday hit.

Logline: Siblings Addison and Liza are on the run with the stolen loot from a casino job gone horribly wrong. Meanwhile, troubled ex-boxer Jay heads for Thanksgiving dinner with his parents, June and retired sheriff Chet. What will happen when their worlds collide in a twist of fate?

The long-awaited prequel to the globally popular Lord of the Rings saga finally hits the screen next winter. In this chapter, Bilbo Baggins (Wood) must trek to the Lonely Mountain to get back a treasure that was stolen by the dragon Smaug. After much developmental stalls and financial fall-outs (exquisite horror/fantasy filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was at one point pegged to direct), Peter Jackson finally stepped into the director’s chair and brought another entry into this well-venerated series.

Since the release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, movie screens have been flooded with other adaptations of popular book series, the most notables being Harry Potter and Twilight. In the meantime, audiences around the world have awaited another cinematic journey into JRR Tolkien’s profoundly dense mythology. One of the qualities that separate these films from other would-be fantasy epics is that Lord of the Rings treats the material in ardent sincerity and doesn’t pander to audiences. These films demand a lot on the part of viewers, but at the same time offer deeply satisfying experiences. As such, they’ve been rewarded with mega-blockbuster box office and well-regarded critical acclaim. This is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of 2012. You should probably have gotten your ticket yesterday.

The epic Broadway musical based on the eponymous book by Victor Hugo hits the big screen this December. In Les Misérables, former prisoner Jean Valjean (Jackman) breaks parole and becomes mayor of a French town. He finds himself having to take care of the young Cosette, daughter of the beleaguered Fantine (Hathaway), all the while steering clear of police inspector Javert (Crowe). The film’s partial backdrop is the 1832 June Rebellion inParis, contributing to the grit and struggle that frame the entire story.

Though the novel has been adapted for television and film numerous times, this version takes its queues from the staged musical adaptation, featuring the beloved songs that audiences embraced back in 1987, when the play made its Broadway debut. (It went on to last for over 16 years and 6,680 performances in its original run, making it one of Broadway’s longest-running shows.)

Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, 2010) takes the helm of this ambitious production that features some of Hollywood’s most multi-talented artists (i.e., they can sing and act), including Jackman, Crowe, Seyfried, and Hathaway. From the looks of it, Hathaway is primed to score her second Oscar nomination for playing the tortured Fantine—one of Broadway’s most cherished roles.

AMOUR

Director: Michael Haneke

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Riva, Jean-Louis Trintignant

Genre: Drama

Release Date: December 19

Logline: Georges and Anne are in their eighties. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, who is also a musician, lives abroad with her family. One day, Anne has an attack. The couple’s bond of love is severely tested.

In military parlance, the phrase “zero dark thirty” refers to the first 30 minutes after midnight. And for the upcoming action-thriller by the Oscar powerhouse team from The Hurt Locker (2008), writer Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty refers “also to the darkness and secrecy that cloaked the entire decade-long mission” of the hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. With a subject matter that already riled up a certain political party way before the film even began shooting, Boal and Bigelow returned to their stylized execution of presenting combative themes sans the politics. In fact, in Zero Dark Thirty, President Obama is never shown.

Not much has been revealed about the premise of the film, but in a rare interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bigelow stated that Zero Dark Thirty is really more about “the unsung heroes worked tirelessly behind the scenes to take down bin Laden,” most especially with the intelligence agencies and special forces of the military SEAL who were instrumental to the highly covert operation. Though its climax is already widely known, the real emphasis of Zero Dark Thirty is retelling the back-story behind one of the greatest, most dangerous missions in American and world history.

Hollywood’s comedic hit-maker Judd Apatow brings his latest directorial effort to the screen this winter with This Is 40. The film, itself, is a spin-off of Knocked Up (2007), Apatow’s biggest box office hit as director, and features Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (Apatow’s real-life wife) reprising their characters Pete and Debbie. Jason Segel and Charlyne Yi are also returning.

Based on Apatow’s thematic record, expect the story to concern overgrown man-children coming to grips with adult responsibility and commitment. The fact that makes these stories so damn funny puts this on a must-see list. Also joining the cast are Melissa McCarthy and Lena Dunham, for whom Apatow produces the Emmy-nominated HBO series Girls.

Nothing enhances the Christmas spirit like a good, old-fashioned, vengeful slave movie. This December 25th, Quentin Tarantino brings us his latest movie, following 2009′s award-winning Inglourious Basterds. Despite its setting in the Deep South, the auteur’s latest release, Django Unchained, falls into the western genre, which carves out new territory for the writer/director. The story follows Django, a former slave who’s aided by a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter to rescue his wife from a malicious Mississippi plantation owner.

It’s been reported that Tarantino originally wanted Will Smith to lead the cast as Django, but the box office superstar opted not to take the part. The part was then offered to Jamie Foxx, who stepped up to the role of a determined former slave. Foxx is just one of several name actors to collaborate with Tarantino on his latest effort. Leonardo DiCaprio will play the malevolent antagonist from whom Django must free his wife, who will be played by Kerry Washington. This marks one more time Foxx and Washington play on-screen husband and wife, following Foxx’s Oscar-winning turn in Ray (2004). Tarantino directed Christoph Waltz to an Oscar for his supporting role in Inglourious Basterds, and Waltz appears to be returning the favor by playing Django’s mentor. Rounding out the cast are Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was previously attached to the film, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with his directorial debut of Don Jon’s Addiction.

THE GUILT TRIP

Logline: An inventor and his mom hit the road together so he can sell his latest invention.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE

Director: Andy Fickman

Cast: Billy Crystal, Bailee Madison, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei

Genre: Comedy

Release Date: December 25

Logline: When his daughter goes away for work, a grandfather finds himself having to take care of his three grandkids using 21st century methods—though he soon resorts to an old-school style of parenting.